Rachael Spinner Period 9

The Muslim dialogue letter is ‘naïve and flawed’
By Mehri Niknam
2/29/08
http://www.thejc.com/home.aspx?ParentId=m13&SecId=13&AId=58477&ATypeId=1

Summary:
The information and the amount of bias in this article particularly interested me. This article is about Muslim scholars sending a letter to Jewish community in order to keep good relations. This article clearly had good intentions, however it was poorly written with many mistakes. It was even said that “it seems to me that this letter is more appropriate as an RE essay by a 15-year-old than a scholarly letter addressed to ‘rabbinic leaders and the wider Jewish communities of the world’” These scholars used quotes and verses from the Qur’an out of context and supposedly used some of the most anti-Jewish verses in the Qur’an. Also, some of the translations in the letter were incorrect, misleading, and they even used incorrect names. This letter was so misleading and incorrect that it was said that the information seemed more like it was googled than actually having an academic research done.

AP World Theme:
This topic relates to the impact of interactions between cultures because it involves the Muslims making contact with the Jews. Although the letter may not be perfect, it still had good intentions and the Muslims still showed an effort of trying to maintain good relations with the Jews.
Historical Background:
The two religions have always somewhat been hostile towards each other. The Qur’an contains conflict instructs for the Muslims regarding the Jews. Some parts of the Qur’an instruct Muslims to treat Jews like brothers, and other verses instruct them to attack Jews who refuse to convert to Islam. There is also a debated over the prophet’s sons. Islam and Judaism both descend from the prophet Abraham, but Muslims believe that Abrahams son Ishmael was the son of promise, while the Jews believe Isaac was the son of promise. This debate defiantly adds to their hostility.

Point of View:
This article was obviously written in the Jewish perspective. Although it has been made clear the article had good intentions, there were still comments in the article that had extreme bias. It almost seemed like the Jews questioned the Muslims intelligence.

Missing Voice:
The Muslims point of view would need to be heard to have a full understanding of this article because there must be some reason why the article lacks necessary components. However, it is possible that this article is exaggerated; making the letter sound worse than it was in reality.

Reaction:
I found this article to be very interesting. I was unaware of the fact that Jews and Muslims were fighting. While researching for background information I even found things that said “All Jews hate Muslims and all Muslims hate Jews” which is an extreme generalization, and hard for me to believe since I am Jewish. I feel much more well informed on the topic.